This invention pertains to a holster for a handgun, such as a revolver, and more particlarly to a holster which is referred to herein as a universal-type holster designed to be capable of accommodating and protecting handguns of different sizes falling within a defined range of sizes.
It is common for handgun enthusiasts to own a plurality of handguns, such as a plurality of revolvers, each of which, from time to time, they take out for sport-shooting purposes. Normally, such a gun is taken out in a protective holder known as a holster which is attached, in various suitable manners, to clothing along the side of the user's hip.
In the past, holsters for such a purpose have been designed to accommodate particular handguns, or at least particular sizes of handguns, and have not proven particularly adequate to handle adequately, and with full protection, a range of hand gun sizes. For example, perhaps the most common type of holster available is one made of a relatively stiff and hard leather. Such a holder is often designed to hold a particular size and type of handgun, and after extended use with a particular handgun tends to take on, in a memorized sense, the shape of the handgun. This kind of holster, for the reason just given, is ordinarily not capable, particularly after it takes on a memorized shape, of handling handguns of different sizes.
Another kind of conventional holster is formed of various relatively soft materials. Such holsters, while not necessarily taking on the shapes of accommodated handguns, nevertheless function best when used with a particular handgun, or a particular size of a handgun.
As a further consideration, while leather-type holsters provide a snug fit for a particular handgun, and very adequate protection from "outside" injury, they have a tendency, well-known, to wear off the bluing found on the surfaces of most guns as a consequence of repeated insertion and withdrawal of a handgun relative to the holster. Conventional soft holsters usually avoid this problem, but fail to provide adequate protection against events in the "outside" world.
A general object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a holster which is referred to herein as a universal-type holster, having a contracted or relaxed-state memory which enables it, from time to time, to receive and hold snugly handguns of different sizes falling within a defined range of sizes.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a holster which also minimizes wear on the blued surface in a gun when the same is used with the holster, and which further maximizes protection against damage from the outside world.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a holster is proposed which is characterized by a sandwich-type construction including three layers. An inner layer in the holster takes the form of a soft fabric, which acts as a lining that directly contacts a received handgun and minimizes the surface wear problem. An intermediate or central lining in the holster takes the form of a yieldably firm elastomer, such as a closed-cell foam, which functions to provide contracted-shape memory--allowing the holster to deform to accommodate, from time to time, all handguns fitting within the defined range of sizes for the holster. An outer layer takes the form of a durable, wear and abrasion resistant fabric, such as a heavy-duty nylon material, to provide "outside world" protection.
These three layers are surface-bonded to one another using any one of a variety of conventional suitable adhesives.
The proposed holster offers all of the advantages discussed generally above, and substantially avoids all of the drawbacks. Each of the three layers in the holster functions to provide a particular use advantage, and the collection of layers acts to furnish an extremely reliable and versatile holster. Relaxed-shaped memory is provided by the central layer, and this feature enables the holster, within the defined range of sizes of handguns related to the holster, to accommodate snugly all hand guns fitting within that range. In other words, the holster does not take on a specific memory unique to one-only of such guns. The inner layer obviates the problem of surface wear on the finish of a handgun as the same is carried in, and inserted and retracted with respect to, the pocket formed in the holster. The outer layer offers a tough outer shell to protect a gun against outside damage.
These and other objects and advantages which are attained by the invention will become more fully apparent as the description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.